So I bought an HRM - Now What?!?!

heather62803
heather62803 Posts: 266 Member
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
So I bought a Polar HRM on e-bay - pretty basic, but it seems to work. So now that I can calculate my heart rate during exercising how do I figure calories burned to put in my MFP exercises? Is there a calculation or a site that I can use to do the calculating? Please Help :)

Replies

  • donna56
    donna56 Posts: 412
    Does your HRM have a chest strap? And after you stop the excercise, push the button on the watch and look at summary. It shows the calories burned last. That's how mine does it anyway. Hope this helps.
  • packerena
    packerena Posts: 26
    You might have purchased a heart rate monitor that does only that - monitor your heart rate. Many models calculate calories burned for you. If not, you can use an online calculator like this one to calculate calories burned based on your average heart rate during an exercise session.

    Copy and paste: http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/
  • bowbee
    bowbee Posts: 77 Member
    Did it come with the manual? If not, maybe you can go to their website and download the manual for your type of hrm? Good Luck!
  • heather62803
    heather62803 Posts: 266 Member
    Yeah it has a chest stap and it came with a manual everything is new, but I think it is an older model - its a Polar F1 or something like that - it only calculates average heart rate and duration of activity. I guess I need to go to a website to calculate the actual calories burned. Even though it doesn't have all the bells and whistles its still nice to be able to record my actual calorie burn. I went to the site above and the calories based on my HR were significantly less than those MFP said I burned so maybe this will help me get a more accurate calorie intake as I was eating most of my exercise calories before (and shouldn't have been!)

    Thanks for the help!
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    I have a Polar F6 that calculates calories burned and what percentage of those calories were burned from fat. I'm not too sure about the accuracy of that, but, I too noticed that my calories burned according to my HRM are consistently 200-300 calories lower than what MFP says. This totally explains why I have not lost any weight in weeks. I have been overeating by a full meal everyday! Now, when I enter in my exercise minutes, I do a little math and manualy adjust the calories burned to what my HRM says. So far, so good!
  • packerena
    packerena Posts: 26
    I bought the Polar FT60. My readings are high on some exercises (like running) and low on others (like yoga). I bought it because I'm a Zumba instructor and Zumba isn't on any activity lists. Zumba reads waaaaay higher than "Dancing, aerobic" which is what I was using before I bought the heart rate monitor.

    Don't stop using the hrm or calculator - what you burn doing the same activity from one day to the next can vary widely. As you progress, you'll start seeing a difference in calories burned and you'll want to modify your activities and time duration accordingly.

    Good luck everybody!
  • gabriellesca
    gabriellesca Posts: 13
    Yes - MFP's calories burned for activities is usually much higher for me than what I burn for some activities and then lower for others. Just a reminder how important it is to use a HRM!!!!
  • saverys_gal
    saverys_gal Posts: 808 Member
    bump!
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